WHEN AND WHERE WHERE DID HE LIVE?

• Born 384-322BCE (b4 common era), Stagira in North Greece

WHAT IS THE DEFINITION OF GREEK TRAGEDY?

• Imitation of action that is serious, complete and of a certain magnitude. In language embellished with each kind of artistic ornament, the several kinds being found in separate parts of the play, in the form of action not of narrative, with incidents arousing pity and fear wherewith to accomplish its katharsis of such emotions, every tragedy must have six parts: Plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, melody.

6 REQUIRED PARTS OF A TRAGEDY:

1) PLOT:

• Most important feature of tragedy

• Defined as “the arrangement of the incidents”

2) CHARACTER:

• Supports the plot

• Must be able to evoke pity and fear in the audience

3) THOUGHT:

• Found “where something is proved to be or not to be, or a general maxim is enunciated”

• Includes ‘themes’ of a play

4) DICTION:

• “expression of the meaning in words” which are proper and appropriate to the plot, characters and end of the tragedy

5) SONG OR MELODY:

• The musical element of the chorus

• Aristotle argues that the Chorus should be fully integrated into the play like an actor

• Should contribute to the unity of the plot

6) SPECTACLE:

• The production of spectacular effects depends more on the art of the stage machinist than on that of the poet

CAUSE-AND-EFFECT CHAIN:

• Relates what may happen – what is possible according to the law of probability or necessity

THREE ACT STRUCTURE:

• Beginning – incentive moment, must start the cause-and-effect chain

• The middle, or climax, must be caused by earlier incidents and itself cause the incidents that follow it

• The end, or resolution, must be caused by the preceding events but not lead to other incidents outside the compass of the play.

EPISODIC PLOTS AND ARISTOTLE’S PROBLEM WITH THEM:

• Episodic plot:

1) Plot begins near the beginning of the story

2) Shows the audience a series of scenes, actions or episodes that shows various events

According to Aristotle, the worst kinds of plots:

• The acts (episodes) succeed one another without probability or necessity

• The only thing tying together the events in such a plot is the fact that they happen to the same person

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIMPLE AND COMPLEX PLOT:

• Simple: Straightforward; Complex: Requires recognition

• Simple: EXPECTED; Complex: UNEXPECTED

RESPONSIBILITY OF CHARACTERS IN AN ARISTOTELIAN TRAGEDY:

• Characters:

1. The second most important feature to the tragedy
2. Responsible to support the plot
3. Essential Qualities:
   • Morally fine
   • Suitability to their roles
   • Realistic
   • Consistency of their personality
   • Necessity of having them
   • Should be presented as perfect or at least better than reality
     
   • Personal motives are connected to cause-and effect chain
   • The protagonist in the tragedy should be renowned and prosperous, so his change can be from good to bad
   • Main character brings about his own downfall because of his lack of understanding lof certain things

NEW VOCABULARY:

1) ANAGNORISIS: the moment of recognition

2) PEREPETEIA: when things change from good to bad

3) HAMARTIA: lack of self-knowledge

4) MIMESIS: imitation of the real world in art and literature

5) KATHARSIS: emotional release